Lynda Ryan, Child and Adult Psychologist
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MINDFULNESS EVENING, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2020 "LIVING IN THE PRESENT MOMENT"

16/10/2020

 
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Hi Everyone -

     Last March, when we first went into our “Stay At Home” response to Covid, it occurred to me that it would be quite a while before we would be meeting again, before we would have a chance to continue cultivating and practicing our Mindfulness together.

     I then thought of sending out little e-mails to keep in touch and to keep up the work we had begun - to tend to that beautiful seed of Mindfulness that we had planted - to keep it watered, supported and encouraged to grow!

     My next thought was of all the excellent material, all the articles and YouTube videos out there already, for people to read and watch. People I had learned from, were providing beautiful and thorough teachings, making them available to everyone. Anything anyone could ever want was already out there. What could I have to say that would add anything to that? The very best teachers were already doing it!

     Then a very unexpected thought suddenly came to my mind, “Yes, but all those people are not me”.

     It took a minute to process that one!

     What followed was a kind of realization - that each one of us, is a singular and completely unique point of consciousness, that is capable of expanding as far as anything we can be conscious of.

     Yes, we are connected with each other, and with all of nature, but - we are each one of us, absolutely unique, equal to everyone else, and are as able as anyone, to draw from the ever-flowing, ever-replenishing well-spring of Wisdom, Creativity, Energy and Joy within us. Which, in addition, is uniquely expressed by each one of us!

     You might want to read that paragraph again, for what it is implying!

     Each of us has the potential to draw on what we have come to think of as “gifts”, “resources” and beautiful, transformational states of mind - what we may be missing is Access!

     This is where Mindfulness comes in!  Mindfulness brings Awareness with it. We become clearly aware of the obstacles to living with the freedom and true happiness we long for. We begin to see a lot of the optional clutter in our mind that obscures the fullness of who we are. We also see the natural, open, clarity of our mind as well. We see that there are clouds, which by their nature are temporary,  and that the brilliant sun is shining ceaselessly behind them.

     This will be the starting point for our next Mindfulness Evening. It will take place this Wednesday evening, October 21st, from 7 to 9 p.m. We will meet through Zoom and Everyone Is Welcome!

 Registration may be completed through an e-transfer of $35. to:  lryanpsychologist@gmail.com
The security question may be: what are we studying?
The answer would be: Mindfulness
Registration is now open and will close on Tuesday afternoon, October 20th at 4 p.m. 

     You can click onto the invitation which you will receive, at the time of the meeting, Wednesday at 7 p.m.

     The doors will open and we will be together again!

     I am so looking forward to seeing you all - and to having a Beautiful and Fruitful Evening!

Warmest regards,
Have a Wonderful Weekend!
Lynda

THE SIMPLICITY OF THE PRESENT MOMENT

11/10/2020

 
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Hi Everyone -

Hope you are happy and enjoying each moment of your day!

Eckhart Tolle presented a live seminar two nights ago, which was extraordinary.  He so clearly shared the value and impact Mindfulness has on our life and on stabilizing and freeing our mind.  I couldn’t recommend it more highly - which is why I’ve attached it for you here.

He talks about the practice of simply being present.  Simply living in THIS very moment, whatever it may be, also aware of the stillness that is always there.

We begin to see that much of our agitation is built up by our mind. All the run-away thinking - our attention caught in the past, caught up in the future - playing out scenarios and story lines.

When we let go of all the mind activity swirling around, and just return to the simple reality of Now - just this moment - it’s all so much lighter!  - it’s always just this moment.  We can actually live our life one moment at a time.  In Reality - rather than in
overwhelm, anxiety, stress etc.  It’s always, simply now.  We can just be here - and respond to the situation at hand in the most effective, creative way.

We can always just stop - come back to being centered in ourself - take a few lovely, full, deep breaths - and we can see how our mind settles immediately. Now we are able to calmly consider our options.

The more we live simply in here and now - the more that becomes natural to us, the more it becomes our outlook and how we perceive our life and situations around us.  Reality is so much more simple, straight forward and kinder than the stories we tell ourselves about it.

We begin to have more clarity, we more easily see what is relevant and what is not.  It becomes easier to make decisions. We become clearer and more creative in how we respond.

Even in the midst of terrible conditions, Mindfulness can bring some reprieve.  Like a balm, it can provide some space within the situation for stability and calm.  Much has been written and studied on this subject.  Mindfulness has been introduced into many  “hot spots” - to great benefit. 

Having a Mindfulness practice, where we sit for 10 or 15 minutes every day, simply letting our mind rest, finding ease and being present, has an even greater impact and contributes to actually living more and more in this state of peace and openness.

We focus our attention on our breath, feeling each one as we inhale and feeling it as we exhale.  It gives our mind a place to rest, like a bird who can stop fluttering, and find a branch on which to light.  Our thoughts won’t stop altogether - but they calm down and we can feel a degree of inner stillness. I will go into detail on this in my next post. 

It’s so different from being caught up by events around us - even the news, social media etc. etc. Notice, in your life, what tends to produce agitation - and consider its value.

Personally, I’ve just begun a de-tox from the news - and it’s HARD!!!!! The news is designed to be addictive - to keep us watching - to engage our emotions (especially by generating fear), curiosity and craving - to see what’s going on - continually! There’s no question that the news can increase anxiety and overwhelm. We soak in all that information and all those images at one time! The result is that we’re kept in a state of threat and vigilance that we are only partially conscious of - making it even more difficult to have a beautiful, relaxed sense of well being..

It’s a hard de-tox, but I’ve done it before and it’s made a HUGE difference. Before long, you notice that you’re feeling less edgy and there’s SO much more time! And - I still knew what was going on!

Speaking of news, I have a  bit of Mindfulness News: I have added (that is, my daughter has added) a Blog to my web-site, where you can find all the posts I’ve written since March, listed chronologically and alphabetically by title. They are at: lyndaryanchildandadultpsychologist.com

Also - I invite you to the next Mindfulness Evening to be held by Zoom on Wednesday, October 21st, from 7 to 9 p.m.  More details to follow. 

So nice to have a way to stay in touch with you all. You’ll find Eckhart’s wonderful message attached below.

Have a Beautiful Autumn!
And a Very Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Warmest regards,
Lynda


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fVoMMz-V7c&feature=youtu.be&_ke=eyJrbF9lbWFpbCI6ICJscnlhbnBzeWNob2xvZ2lzdEBnbWFpbC5jb20iLCAia2xfY29tcGFueV9pZCI6ICJOazd6WmIifQ%3D%3D
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    Lynda Ryan

    a psychologist who has been practicing, working with, and teaching Mindfulness for almost 30 years. She has trained personally with Jon Kabat-Zinn and Thich Nhat Hanh.

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    Archives by title (alphabetical)

    All
    ❧ A MINDFULNESS MESSAGE - KEEPING OPEN KEEPING IN TOUCH
    ❧ ENJOYING MINDFULNESS
    ❧ FIRE CIDER AND INNER PEACE
    ❧ HAPPY MOTHERS' DAY
    ❧ HAPPY NEW YEAR
    ❧ MINDFULNESS - ALLOW YOUR HEART TO BECOME A CRADLE FOR THE CHRIST CHILD
    ❧ MINDFULNESS AND DIFFICULT EMOTIONS
    ❧ MINDFULNESS AND INNER PEACE
    ❧ MINDFULNESS AND THE ALLEVIATION OF SUFFERING
    ❧ MINDFULNESS AND THE CORONAVIRUS #1
    ❧ MINDFULNESS AND THE CORONAVIRUS #2
    ❧ MINDFULNESS AND WELL- BEING
    ❧ MINDFULNESS - BEAUTIFUL LUNAR NEW YEAR WISHES
    ❧ MINDFULNESS - BEING A BEAUTIFUL PERSON TO LIVE WITH
    ❧ MINDFULNESS DAY TO DAY
    ❧ MINDFULNESS EVENING - FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 25TH 2020
    ❧ MINDFULNESS EVENING - SEPTEMBER 25TH 2020
    ❧ MINDFULNESS EVENINGS - ONLINE
    ❧ MINDFULNESS EVENING WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 21 2020 "LIVING IN THE PRESENT MOMENT"
    ❧ MINDFULNESS - LIVING WITH AN EASEFUL MIND & A JOYFUL HEART
    ❧ MINDFULNESS - LOCKDOWN NIGHTS IN OXFORD
    ❧ MINDFULNESS - THE WIDE OPEN SKY
    ❧ MINDFULNESS - WHY IS THE PRESENT MOMENT SUCH A BIG DEAL?
    ❧ OXYGEN FOR INDIA
    ❧ SUPERVISION AVAILABLE ON INCORPORATING MINDFULNESS INTO CLINICAL PRACTICE
    ❧ THE SIMPLICITY OF THE PRESENT MOMENT
    ❧ THICH NHAT HANH - A PASSING
    ❧ THINKING OF YOU

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